Despite another night of sparse attendance, we had a great time at the Red Bike, and can’t wait to get back. The stage sound (provided by one of two Petes) was frighteningly good, so much so that I had trouble acclimating at first! But once we’d gotten comfortable with the…shall we say, intimate…audience, we played a great set, I think, and met quite a few very kind islanders. We’re incredibly grateful to Pete Welch for all of his hard work promoting the show. Thanks to Nathan & the Dark Pioneers for sharing a fantastic weekend!

Our first trip to the legendary Brick was a rocking good time, if a bit sparsely attended. Still, we met some very kind folks and made the most of it. I could tell right away that this wasn’t going to be one of those ‘masterfully subtle’ shows (not that we’ve ever had one of those…ha), so we went nuts, baiting the audience, rocking out cover tunes, and doing anything we could to engage the few patrons who had showed up. It worked! Thanks are due to Barbara Mitchell for setting up the show. Special thanks to Lucky and all at the Brick for being so wonderfully hospitable…it sure was nice to wake up in Roslyn after a late night of whiskey drinkin’ and guitar pickin’ and get some breakfast at the Pastime before a gorgeously-sunny drive back to the city (soundtracked by a selection of Heart’s greatest hits). We’re looking forward to our next trip to your beautiful mountain town!

Always nice to be back at the Sunset, and on a packed Saturday night, it’s hard to find anything to complain about! We might not have been at our very best (see our High Dive show in October), but our set was sweaty and fun, particularly in its rockin’ first half. I’m afraid we started to run out of steam around the mid-point, but it was 12:30! It occured to me, upon reflection, that folks that routinely play midnight sets might lead a somewhat-different lifestyle than yours truly. But no matter…we had fun, and it seemed like the ample audience did, too. Thanks to all of our friends and fans for an incredible 2008…here’s to an even greater 2009!

In a year of incredible shows for RJM, this one is going to be tough to top. We’ve been friends with The Devil Whale for years, but haven’t been able to share a show until now…I must say it was worth the wait, though! It had all the makings of a truly memorable night–a full house, packed with friends; a top-to-bottom great bill of kind and generous folks; killer sound onstage and off (sincere thanks to Toby!). After the somewhat-crippling technical limitations we faced at our REVERBfest show, this show was positively euphoric. And we even got tacos from the brand-new wagon down the street afterward! Special thanks to The Devil Whale for making the trek, and to Grand Hallway for capping the evening with a lovely performance. Thanks to all of our friends for being there to witness it!

Well, we’ve had better shows. A way-too-tiny stage (even without Porter’s pedal steel rig, which he wisely chose to leave at the practice space, adapting his typical steel parts to guitar) and abysmal stage monitoring (not the soundman’s fault…he didn’t have much to work with) conspired against us here. Still, we did our best to rise above, and by all accounts turned in a solid performance…apparently, the sound in the venue was much better than the stage sound suggested. We met a lot of great folks, though, and even sold some CDs, so I still count this one as a success. It was an honor just to be a part of such a great event…thanks to the Weekly and all who saw the show!

It was an honor to be invited to play this birthday bash for our pal Barbara Mitchell…and it was an absolute blast to rock some of our favorite ’80s gems (though I’m afraid we didn’t really fit the ‘mopey’ bill, with the possible exception of our Stonesy version of “Policy of Truth”). We had a riotous good time, though, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see these tunes pop up in our regular set! Thanks, Barbara…hope you had a great one!

Our first headlining show in many months was a great success! Despite a creeping illness on Andy’s part, and some questionable wonton soup on mine, we turned in a strong set, and it’s rare to play on such a top-to-bottom great bill. Our friends The Dimes represented the Rose City in style, and Nathan Wade & the Dark Pioneers set the place on fire in celebration of the release of their Chroma Session EP. Big thanks to all involved, and thanks to YOU for being there!

A really great night, and our first show with longtime pals Pickwick (you may remember our thwarted attempt to play the dearly departed Crocodile back in January) and their LA friends Steve Carson Band. Andy’s favorite RJM show thus far…the shows just keep getting better and better. New faces in the audience, which is always nice, and we even had time to bust out a couple of slow-jams from the forthcoming album. Thanks to everyone who made it out!

Chopperfest was a gas! So many kind folks came out to support our good friends John & Donna Fisher in their time of need, and we couldn’t have been happier to be a part of it. Our set was a rip-roarin’ good time, kicking off with a swaggering version of “So Long, Radiant Flower” and never letting up. I had a blast channeling Phil Lynott on our cover of Thin Lizzy’s “Jailbreak,” too. I don’t think such loud, brash, hectoring good times haven’t been had since the Pistols played Winterland! Or at least since our last show…

In my opinion, this was an absolutely masterful performance, one that ranks with (and quite possibly surpasses) our very best. From the stage, it really felt like we were firing on all cylinders: my voice felt great, the guitars sounded marvelous, the rhythm section was tight, and the crowd was very receptive. It didn’t hurt to have Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker (from Low) watching in the wings, either!

Retribution Gospel Choir were a thunderous beast of a rock and roll band, as loud as I can imagine a three-piece ever being, loose-limbed and spitting fire. Alan even took a tumble (while screaming into the pickups of his Les Paul) and knocked over his Traynor head & speaker cabinet, but he took it like a pro! A deafening, cathartic experience, and it was an honor to play with such kind, talented folks. Hope we can do it again really soon…thanks to all of the new friends we met that night!

We’ve been buds with Ian for quite a while now, so it was high time we finally shared a show. And what better time than the present? We even manged to coax him onstage, sans-rehearsal, for “Apricot Moon” (the song he played guitar & sang on during our recent recording sessions). We also debuted a new cover, which at least 75% of the band is totally stoked on…Television’s “Venus” (watch the video on YouTube).

After May’s boot camp experience, I feel we’re sounding better than ever, and we’re certainly having more fun. Ian and his band were devastating as well. Pretty humbling! Thanks to them, and to everyone who came out for this great night of music.

Fresh out of the studio, with no rehearsals in the interim (but fifteen or more in the earlier part of the month), we elected to play all new songs for this, our first all-ages gig in a LONG time. And it was great! The crowd was extremely receptive; we sold a ton of CDs and met a lot of new folks, young and old. Here’s hoping we can set up another all-ages show in the near future so we can play for all of these kind folks again! Special thanks to Teitur and his wonderful band for having us on the bill. Also, file under nice surprise: Andy and I unexpectedly ran into our friend Tim Young, an incredible guitarist who moved to LA a couple of years ago and just happened to be playing (a beautiful, quirky ’60s Hofner that we sold him during our season at ECG) with both acts on the tour. Marvelous!

Sometimes the best-laid plans…get thrown out the window when your guitar won’t work and people keep putting whiskey in front of you! Seriously, that makes it sound much worse than it was. With the amount of time (nearly a year!) leading up to the release of our debut album since its completion last summer, we were bound to build this show up in our minds a little…and a pesky technical issue—in this case, a bum patch cable between my tuner & another pedal—was bound to throw everything a bit askew.

After a protracted soundcheck and a life-saving suggestion from a friendly fan (thanks, Paul!), though, we were on our way, sans-tuner, and it really was a pretty great show. We played a bunch of new tunes, including “The Pose,” which made its live debut. The performances were rocked-up, a little ragged, crackling with nervous energy, but by all accounts quite enjoyable. Our friends Burning Rivers and North Twin both turned in fantastic sets. And it was so, so nice to see all of the friendly faces in the crowd! Big thanks to Kris Hooper and Carrie McNeely, who made the trip down from BC for the show, and Sativa and Keith, who came all the way from the wilds of Grays Harbor to get a copy of the CD for the Stiffy’s jukebox! Many other thank-yous are in order…you know who you are!

The only truly unfortunate consequence of our somewhat-poor planning, in my mind, is the fact that many of the show’s attendees failed to get their promised copy of the album. We apologize for this oversight! I know that many of you already had a copy of the album, but if you didn’t get yours, please contact us and we’ll do our best to make it right. Thanks so much to everyone who helped make this such a great show. We’ll see you in a couple of months!

Wow. We all love Portland, and we’ll jump at any chance to visit, but this was a show to remember. We’d been jonesing to play at the Doug Fir Lounge for a couple of years now, and it was all we’d hoped it would be. Our set was fantastic, the sound was top-notch (thanks, Nick!), and everyone made us feel extremely welcome. We can’t wait to come back, and not just because of the fantastic buffalo burgers…though they’re certainly a factor! Thanks so much to our buddy Chris Robley for setting up the show. Thanks also to the kind and generous cats in Jonah, and all of the friends old and new who helped to make it such an incredible night for us! I know I’m given to hyperbole, but this was probably our best show thus far…and after last month’s Sunset show, that’s saying something. Here’s to new heights!

Thanks to all of the kind folks that conspired to absolutely PACK the Sunset! This was an incredible show, certainly one of our best ever. A bit ragged in spots, but impassioned throughout. The new tunes (particularly “Stay Golden”) are really finding their feet, too…a great feeling, especially when you’re playing them to a packed house! Special thanks to our Portland pals Chris Robley & the Fear of Heights, who turned in a fantastic opening set, and Ballard celebrities the Maldives, who rocked into the early morning hours!!! Red Jacket Mine loves the Sunset!

Our maiden voyage to Bellingham, and a successful one, at that! We’ve been dying to visit these fine northern folks for quite a while now, and when Boundary Bay (purveyors of delicious beer and tasty food) came knocking, we knew the time was right. The well-dressed lads in Pastiche brought a great crowd and played a fantastic set. Ours went really well, and included the live debut of “Childish Things,” which is likely to appear on the next record. We met a lot of very friendly music fans and can’t wait to come back! Thanks to everyone who made it out!

Our first show of 2008 was an absolute killer! One of our best ever, honestly. Our buddy Greg Garcia, who books at the High Dive, was kind enough to hook us up with this show when the Crocodile Cafe up and closed its doors in mid-December, leaving us (and countless other bands) out in the cold. Thanks, Greg!

We’d spent our two-month vacation working up tunes for the next record, and we busted out a few at this show, including band favorite “Stay Golden.” The house was packed with friends and it was a truly beautiful night. Thanks to everyone who came out!